


Schemes

by Asdrator



Category: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Comedy, F/F, Fluff, High School, M/M, though it’s barely even mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24382534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asdrator/pseuds/Asdrator
Summary: Innes has a scheme to humiliate his rival in school, Ephraim, once and for all. Little does he know, Tana and Eirika have a scheme of their own in mind.
Relationships: Eirika/Turner | Tana, Ephraim/Heanius | Innes
Kudos: 12





	Schemes

“You can’t be serious.”

“Obviously that isn’t true, Tana, since I am.”

“For the love of everything good and holy, you obviously have feelings for him.” Tana said, exasperated and already knowing her words would have no effect on Innes. “Must you insist on being such an ass, brother?”

“How dare you! Since you’ve clearly already forgotten what I told you, I’ll say it again. I am NOT in love with Ephraim, and I never have been! He’s a wretched cur of a man, and I have no feelings for him except the most intense of hatreds!” Innes insisted. At Tana’s skeptical look, he quickly added: “And, admittedly, a begrudging respect for his intellect and strength. But nothing more!.”

“Or, and hear me out, you could just come to terms with having fallen in love with him and everyone can go on with their days.” Tana quipped, rolling her eyes.

“Look, do you want in on the plan or not?”

“Oh I want in, but only because I want to embarrass Ephraim. That doesn’t mean I have to stop teasing you for your crush, though.”

Innes gritted his teeth and then sighed. “Fine, fine. That’ll have to do, I suppose. I will get my revenge on you one day, though, Tana.”

“I’m sure.”

“I mean it.”

“Whatever! Just tell me the plan already!”

“Alright! Here’s what I’m thinking...”

An old saying says that the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry. Unfortunately for Innes, and very fortunately for Tana, his plans couldn’t even qualify as among the best laid.  
———————————————————  
“Alright, quick, get in position Tana!” Innes hissed a whisper at his little sister. Complying, though more out of curiosity for how the plan would go than anything else, Tana hid behind the lunch table at Innes’s side. Together, they watched their target converse with his sister. “Damned bastard, just look at him! He’s up to something, I just know it.”

“Perhaps he’s planning his wedding to you?” Tana offered playfully, or quite unhelpfully as Innes thought.

“Quiet you.” Innes sounded exasperated, but continued. “Now, as long as he moves a certain way just a little, he’s in for a world of hurt. Soon, I will put a stop to his nefarious schemes!” Despite himself, Innes cackled with glee.

“You know you sound like a cliche villain right now, right?”

“Tana, please-“

“And besides, you talking about the nefarious schemes of others is like throwing stones from a glass house.”

“Oh for the love of- you really are my least favorite sister, you know that?”

“Glad to hear it, if this is the sort of stuff you do to people you like.”

“For the millionth time, he’s my mortal rival! I don’t like him!” Innes was barely keeping his voice to a whisper at this point.

“Careful now, they’ll hear us if you keep that up.” Tana stuck her tongue out at her big brother.

“Yeah? And whose fault would that be, exactly?” Innes asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Yours, obviously.”

“That was a rhetorical question.”

“Well, I gave you a rhetorical answer.”

“Snake.”

“Donkey.”

The pair of siblings carried on like this, quickly forgetting all about their plan. Unbeknownst to Innes, and only Innes, they had already been noticed by their targets. Though Tana had caught on, she had decided it would be far more interesting if Innes were left unaware of the impending failure of his plan.  
———————————————————  
“So what exactly are you planning to do about them. Surely Innes is up to something. You do realize that right?” Eirika asked, more than a little concerned for her twin.

“Hm? Ah, yes... my plan is to wait right here to see what exactly he’s planning.” Ephraim said confidently.

“Wait, seriously? So your plan to beat his plan is to be caught by his plan?” She was only more confused now.

“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds downright stupid.”

“Because it is and if something goes wrong you might get hurt?”

“No! No, not at all.” He explained with a laugh. “I already know he can’t actually hurt me. Name one time Innes has beaten me at a physical activity.”

“I- huh. That’s a surprisingly good point.”

“Surprisingly?” Ephraim raised an eyebrow.

“I meant what I said. Anyways, what if his goal is just to embarrass you? Being strong doesn’t protect you against that.” Eirika pointed out.

“If he can actually manage that, that would be pretty impressive. Not that Ephraim remarked wistfully.

“Wait- are you in love with him?” At Ephraim’s faint blush, Eirika giggled and hopped up and down in excitement. “You are! You really are!”

“...What gave it away?” Ephraim asked, clearly resigned to his fate.

“The way you sounded all longing when you were talking about him being impressive.” She explained, trying to contain her fit of laughter.

“Ah, that’ll do it.”

“Indeed.” Eirika saw Tana standing up and waving to her behind the lunch table, with a frantic Innes trying to make her hide to no avail. “Excuse me brother, my girlfriend needs me.”

“Lucky you, when’s the wedding?” Ephraim joked dryly.

“Soon as I can convince you to be a bridesmaid.” Eirika shot back.

“For you? Always.” Ephraim told her as she ran off, no longer quite sure himself as to whether he was joking. Dresses certainly did have their appeal.

Having nothing better to do without his sister around, he walked towards the poorly hidden Innes, suddenly emboldened by his talk with Eirika. If he was ever going to talk to his crush about his feelings, it might as well be now.

That was when Ephraim fell into the pit trap.  
———————————————————  
Yes! YES! It had taken him a week to set up, but the trap had worked perfectly. He was a bit curious about what had motivated Ephraim to walk towards him and fall into the trap, but he could find that out later. Now was the time to gloat over his fallen rival.

“So, Ephraim.” Innes said smugly, running a hand through his hair as he looked down at the other boy. Without waiting for a response, he continued. “How does it feel, to have sunken so low?”

“Why don’t you find out for yourself?”

Innes felt two pairs of hands suddenly push him from behind and after a brief moment of teetering on the edge, he fell right into his own pit. After a very short fall, something caught him, and he immediately looked up to the top of the pit, furious. “Tana! Eirika! Curse you both!”

“Before cursing us, brother, why don’t you have a look at who’s holding you?” Tana replied, barely hiding her laughter. “It might be a pleasant surprise.”

Reluctantly, Innes did as she said, and turned his head to view his rescuer, who was, of course, Ephraim, since it would have been a bizarre miracle if anyone else had fallen into the pit so quickly without his noticing. Innes yelped and nearly jumped out of Ephraim’s steady arms, a blush creeping across his face. Apparently sensing Innes’s urgency to get down, Ephraim carefully set him down on his feet, in a manner that reminded Innes far too much of a knight setting down a princess. Even more bothersome was the creeping feeling Innes had that he would not mind such a scenario.

After Innes was on his own two feet, Ephraim grabbed hold of his shoulders, a small and tender smile on his face. “W-what is it? Just spit it out already!” Innes grumbled.

“Innes, I’m in love with you.”

That certainly wasn’t something Innes had expected to hear, but now that he had heard it, he found himself warming up to the idea at the speed of light. After standing there stunned a few moments, he placed a hand on Ephraim’s cheek and brought their foreheads together. “I love you too, idiot. I always have.”

The insufferably cute smile on Ephraim’s face grew even wider. “May I kiss you?”

“Yes, of course.” Innes said seriously, though his tone grew lighter for what followed. “Now get on with it already, before we both die of old age.”

As the two new lovers kissed, Eirika and Tana walked away, hand in hand. Although Innes thought that his scheme had won the day, it was really the plot of the two girlfriends, to help their brothers admit their feelings for each other, that had succeeded.


End file.
